


Reunited

by Ltleflrt



Series: Bookshelf Boys [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU mashup, High School Reunion, M/M, Porn Star Castiel, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2019-12-30 18:26:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ltleflrt/pseuds/Ltleflrt
Summary: Castiel has changed a lot in the 10 years since he was a shy bookworm in High School.  But it seems like few of his previous schoolmates have grown up much, if the revival of the rumor mill as soon as he walked in is any indication.Dean Winchester certainly grew up, though.  And he seems far more interested in Castiel than the rumors.





	Reunited

**Author's Note:**

> For @melilovesmakeup-blog on Tumblr.

“He is  _not._ ”

“He totally is!  Andrew and I were getting a little wild and crazy one night and we went on this porn site and checked out the threesomes–”

“Oh my gosh,  _Rachel._ ”

An eruption of scandalized giggles makes Castiel roll his eyes.  It’s been ten years and somehow nothing has changed at all.

“Anyway, he’s got all these crazy tattoos, and it was  _weird_  seeing him like…” Rachel’s voice lowers, but not in a way that’s really meant to prevent people from overhearing.  Not when the gossip is this juicy.  “You know what a nerd he was, right?  Well I would have never guessed he was such a  _Deviant._ ”

“Oh please,” Castiel says, loud enough to catch their attention.  “Like you didn’t do the rounds with more than half the sports teams.”

Rachel’s eyes widen with horror, whether from realizing the subject of her gossiping has been listening or the reveal that he knew her dirty secrets too he doesn’t know.  He hopes it’s both.

Pasting on his for-the-camera smile he lifts his beer in a toast to Rachel and her circle of girlfriends.  “Have a good evening, ladies.”

They’re only shocked silent for a few seconds.  When he turns his back and walks away, he knows their heads are back together and the hypocritical clucking has started anew and probably with more vigor.  He should have kept his mouth shut and moved on, but he never liked Rachel.  It wasn’t even that she’d started rumors that he was gay; he  _is_  queer after all, even if she didn’t know it at time and was just making things up to cause trouble.  It’s that she just did it out of boredom as far as he knows.  Anyone paying attention would have known that most of the malicious rumors spreading through the school usually originated with her and her sycophants.  

And here she is spreading tales again, like she never left school and hasn’t aged ten years past puberty.  So what if it’s also the truth, it’s nobody’s fucking business.

Castiel drains his beer and sighs at himself.  He’s not ashamed of his work.  It’s good money, it’s good fun, and it makes plenty of people on both sides of the camera happy.  He wasn’t exactly planning on starting every conversation with  _“Hello, I was the shy nerd you probably don’t remember, but hey I grew up to be a porn star!”_ but is there really any harm in people knowing what he does?

A glance around reveals that the answer to that question is probably yes.  There are already people staring at him while they whisper together.  Rachel’s stories always did spread like wildfire.

Fantastic.  Time for another beer.

Another beer doesn’t help.  The whispers and sideways looks are spreading, and Castiel doesn’t even know why he came.  Nobody cared about him in high school unless they wanted to borrow his notes or copy his homework.  His only real friend, Meg, was a year ahead of him so she wouldn’t be here for this particular reunion.  And all the pictures of his fellow students being projected on the big movie screen hanging over the back wall of the gym just remind him how lonely he always was.

He’d been happy to get out of here, to get away from all these people.  The only thing about this place that he has fond memories of is the library, where he’d go to escape from the constant gay jokes and the eyes of bullies.  It was his safe place, where he went on imaginary adventures that could never happen in real life.

Some of them he even made up himself.  A memory of green eyes and freckles makes him smile into the rim of his beer bottle.  The cute library aid who always greeted Castiel with a sunny smile and suggested new books for him to try was usually the main character in those adventures.

“Must be a good beer.”

The deep voice startles Castiel and he looks up into familiar green eyes.

Dean Winchester, subject of those self made imaginary adventures, smiles at him like he’s actually happy to see him.  “Castiel, right? Do you remember me?  I’m Dean.”

“Y-yes.” Oh god, he’s reverting to his teenaged stuttering.  “Hello, Dean.

It only ever happened around Dean, so he really shouldn’t be surprised.  Especially since Dean grew up from a pretty twink to an absolutely stunning bastard.  

Just like when they were in high school, if Dean thinks anything about Castiel’s inability to speak clearly, he doesn’t let it show.  He just gestures to the empty chair next to Castiel at the otherwise empty table.  “May I join you?”

Afraid he’ll sound like an idiot, Castiel only nods.

Dean’s grin brightens, and he settles down in the chair.  He’s so close that Castiel can feel the heat of his knee under the table.  A tiny shift to the left, and they’ll be touching.  And he gets even closer by bracing his elbows on the table and putting himself right in Castiel’s personal space.  “Man, I can’t believe it’s been ten years already.  How’ve you been, Cas?”

How to answer that question?   _I came out officially, dated a kinky british guy who talked me into making amatuer porn, decided I liked it and went pro._   There’s so much more to his life than his job, but being treated like a pariah because Rachel can’t keep her mouth shut is making it hard for him to think of anything else.

Also, seeing Dean from this close is already starting to make him fantasize about adding a video of himself with Dean to his own personal collection.

“I’ve b-been, uh… g-g-good.”

“That’s really great to hear,” Dean gushes.  “You still a bookworm?”

The subject makes him instantly less nervous, and he finally returns Dean’s smile.  “More than ever.  I’ve got an actual library in my house.”

Dean’s eyes go wide with delight.  “Oh yeah?  Damn, that’s really cool.  I’ve got a pretty big collection myself, but mostly e-books so I don’t have to haul them around every time I move.”

“You have to move a lot?”

“Not as much as when I was a kid.” Castiel has a vague memory of hearing about Dean’s deadbeat dad being a drifter, but those were more stories started by his least favorite rumor mills, so he’d mostly ignored them.  “But there was college and then I moved a couple times for jobs until I settled in California to be near my brother.”

California is huge, larger than some countries, but the news that Dean lives in the same state as he does sends his heart into love-sick palpitations.  Ten years, more fuck buddies than he’d want to bother counting, and even some fairly stable boyfriends, and he’s  _still_  crushing on Dean Winchester.  “Oh really?  What part?”

“San Francisco.”

Those palpitations turn into the baseline suitable for a dance club.  “That’s where I live.”

“Holy shit, really?” Dean not only sounds excited, he looks excited.  “Dude, I’m in this book club that basically sticks to fantasy and sci-fi.  You should totally join us.”

“That sounds fun.”  It does.  He has plenty of friends who read, but not as many of them are into the same genres he is, and it would be nice to have more people to fanboy with over his favorite books.  “What are you guys reading right now?”

They fall into the discussion about books, and everything else fades away.  There’s only Castiel, and Dean, and an in depth discussion of the end of the Wheel of Time.  And not once does Castiel’s nervous stutter resurface.

Many times over the course of his adult life, Castiel has reflected on how he got where he was, because he’s been in some very strange places, figuratively and literally.  This is one of those moments.  He’d almost thrown the reunion invitation away, but the trash had been full so he’d tossed it on the counter instead.  And when he’d gone to throw it away later, he’d changed his mind and kept it.  

And now he’s here.  In his high school gym, with his high school crush, talking like they never did when they were kids.  What a wonderful plot twist in his less than ordinary life.

“So I’ve got a confession to make,” Dean says when they’ve exhausted the subjects of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson and the pros and cons of ghost writing.  He’s closed more of the space between them, and their knees have been pressed together under the table for at least the length of their discussion about the Mist Born series.

At the change of subject Castiel blinks, and takes a deep breath like he’s coming up for air after being submerged for as long as he can hold his breath.  He glances around and sees that the reunion party is still going, although there are less people than there were the last time he was paying attention.  Some of them are still looking his way, but the small groups of whisperers have appeared to disband.  He turns his attention back to Dean.  “Okay?”

Dean looks down at his empty beer bottle and flicks his nail back and forth over the loose edge of the label.  A blush obscures most of his freckles.  “I had the  _biggest_  crush on you in school, man.”

It feels a little like Castiel has been shoved right back under water.  His lungs lock up and his mouth opens and closes, and just briefly he wonders if he actually got too drunk and is passed out in his room, having a very vivid dream.  Finally he manages a weak “really?”

Dean’s eyes flit up to his face, and his blush deepens, but he doesn’t look away.  “Oh yeah.  Like writing our names together in my notebook kinda crush.”

Castiel stares at Dean, looking for any sign that he might be teasing.  Or, god forbid, that he’s in on some kind of prank with one of the people who used to torment Castiel for being gay when they were in school.  But Dean had never been like that before, and had even had a few students banned from the library for being disruptive when they’d tried to follow Castiel in there to pester him.  

And he looks completely earnest.  Hopeful.  

Maybe a little bit vulnerable.

“I…” Castiel swallows, and tries again.  “I had a pretty big crush on you too.”

Dean’s growing smile is simultaneously the cutest and the sexiest thing Castiel has ever seen.  And considering what he does for a living, that latter point is impressive.  “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Castiel confirms.  And just for emphasis, he presses his knee harder against Dean’s.

“Do you think maybe in addition to book club, we could maybe go out together sometime?” Dean asks softly.  “On a date?”

Castiel is nodding before he even finishes asking.  “Absolutely.”

Deep in their senior year book, there’s a picture of Dean at the checkout counter in the library.  It’s one of the few color photos, since the school had decided to go with black and white for everyone but the senior class and a few special moments.  In it, Dean is grinning directly into the camera, and underneath is the caption “Sunshine Man”.

That smile pales in comparison to the way Dean is beaming at him now.

“The finger foods here are kinda lame,” Dean says, looking around before pinning Castiel with his smile again.  “Wanna get out of here and get something to decent eat?”

Castiel’s stomach answers for him with a rumble that makes them both laugh.  “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“Awesome, I just need to go pick up my jacket and then we can get out of here, okay?”

With Castiel’s agreement, Dean hurries off to the coat room.  Castiel takes their beer bottles to the nearest trash can and then follows.  The coat room is just a classroom down the hall from the gym, near the double doors that lead outside to the south parking lot.  When Castiel comes out of the gym and turns toward the exit, he sees Dean and Rachel standing right outside the classroom.

Dean looks very unhappy.

“Look,” Dean says sharply, “I don’t know what your goal here is, but you practically ruined his life telling everyone he was gay back when we were in school.  Why don’t you grow up and keep your mouth shut about him?”

“It’s not like I was telling lies.  He  _is_  gay,” Rachel sneers.  “And I’m not lying about the porn stuff either.”

Oh.  She’s telling Dean the same story she’s been spreading to everyone else all night.

Wonderful.

And she’s probably ruining his chances with Dean.  Castiel has already been starting to think about how to tell Dean what he does for a living.  He was going to approach it after a couple dates,  _definitely_  before they end up in bed together.  On his own time, after he’s decided whether Dean’s the kind of guy who can accept his lifestyle enough to keep dating him, or if they should stick to just friends.

And Rachel is blowing that all out of the water, that bitch.

“Actually if you want to be accurate,” he growls as he strides up to them.  “I’m bisexual, with a preference for men.  Hence why you saw me in that threesome video with a man and a  _woman._ ”

It’s satisfying to see Rachel go pale.  Not many people call her out for spreading gossip, since most people cling to every word instead.  

But it’s not her reaction he’s looking for right now, so he turns his gaze to Dean.  “She’s not lying about what I do for a living though,” he says more softly.  “I work in the adult film industry.”

He lifts his chin and waits for everything to fall apart.

Instead of expressing any level of horror, Dean grins.  It’s the same welcoming sunshine smile from his high school photos.  “Dude, I know.  I own all your movies.”

“You…” Castiel frowns.  “What?”

“Hell yeah,” Dean says.  “Even that old Casa Erotica one.  That one’s harder to find on DVD, but my brother is friends with the franchise owner Gabriel, and got his hands on a copy for me.”

“Oh my god, you are both disgusting,” Rachel huffs.  Her heels clack loudly on the tile as she shoves between them and goes back to the gym.  Probably to rejoin her friends and smear more dirt over Castiel’s name, and add some to Dean’s as well.

They both watch her disappear, before turning back to each other.  Dean is smiling, but it’s dimmed by wariness.

Castiel isn’t sure what his own face is doing, but he feels pretty wary himself.  “You don’t have a problem with me being a porn star?”

“Nope,” Dean answers simply.

It’s a relief, but then a more daunting thought occurs.  “You’re not asking me out just for the novelty of dating a porn star are you?”

This time Dean chuckles, and he shakes his head and repeats himself with an emphatic “Nope.”  He steps closer and reaches out to run his fingers down Castiel’s arm.  A light touch, soothing, and also somehow reassuring.  “I was telling the truth when I said I always liked you,” he says softly.  “I was too shy to say anything, and very very deep in the closet.  You know how high school can get.”

Castiel takes a step, narrowing the space between them even further.  “You protected me sometimes.  Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

A shuffle, and Dean’s so close that Castiel can feel his body heat.  “I would’a done it for anyone.  But yeah, I kicked a few assholes out so you could read in peace.”

They’re standing so close that it takes hardly any effort to slip his hand into Dean’s.  “I’m still up for dinner if you are.”

Dean’s eyes twinkle and he squeezes Castiel’s fingers.  “Burgers sound okay?”

“Oh my god, Dean,” Castiel breathes.  “You should have asked me out in high school.”

Dean’s laughter echoes up and down the empty hall.

**Author's Note:**

> Over burgers Dean reveals that did Cam Boy work to support himself through college. He offers to let Cas watch them so they'll be on even ground. Castiel accepts, and after they date for a while they start creating their own private collection.


End file.
